Today everyone bar Nell (who was 2 hours late) arrived at the docks for 1.00pm.

After this we had a full briefing below and on deck and hanked on the yankee and the staysail. We also ran through running the backstays and winches.

For dinner we had fajitas and fingers crossed we don’t have salmonella tomorrow, seeing as we cooked it.

Signing off for today,

Port WatchQA”​

“BANG”. We woke up to the sound of Sophie hitting her knee on the wood which echoed throughout the boat. But thankfully we had nautically themed lucky charms for breakfast which are like normal lucky charms with little anchors but turned out to be a controversial variant to the usual type. The wind was dead so we used the motor, but we put the mainsail up for practice anyway. This also meant that Pete was able to teach one watch at a time about navigating the Solent and surrounding coast. This meant we learned to find bearings which we later used when helming the yacht. While Pete taught navigation, the other watch was able to learn about tying various varieties of knot up on deck such as the bowline and double-hitch which are vital skills when sailing.

We passed some interesting landmarks such as the Needles and Old Harry. Many of the crew were even brave enough to brave the climb up the daunting spinnaker pole to admire to scenic views from a higher vantage point. Solomon especially excelled at this as he was able to climb the spinnaker impressively fast. Kaleigh was tasked with the important job of filling up the ship camera so we now have many good photos of the climbers.

We later went on to learn how to put a reef in the mainsail in case we needed it later on in the week when the wind would hopefully be less dead. After mooring the boat, we then had enough time to go to the beach in Weymouth and have a quick dip. We had amazing fish and chips for dinner and challenger 2 keeps harassing us which is quite frankly disappointing to be honest. J :-0 🙂 XD

By Zosia, Harvey, Amelia, Luke, Rosie and Kaleigh- the Starboard (best) Watch

Greetings from Port Watch. Today we woke at 0630 hrs ready for a day of motorised sailing, to then leave at 0700 hrs. After a bacon breakfast (Masterchef standard) on the go, we practiced tacking and emergency protocols (i.e MOB).

Due to the lack of wind we shortened our journey to stop at Brixham. To our amazement, we spotted a pod of dolphins which played under the bow. Don’t worry we’ve taken multiple photos and videos.

To the main event of the day – Spaghetti Bolognese! Of course it was a massive success earning the Port watch some well earned praise which was closely followed by some belting of Jerusalem. However, we cannot finish without mentioning our Head Chef Matt who led the team, of now semi-pro chefs, to glory.

Signing off,

Port Watch

Brixham, 0800: We were blessed with a later start than normal, and had scrambled eggs to wake us up. After quick look around Brixham and the The Golden Hind (the boat Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world on), we returned to set off on our longest voyage yet…

Brixham, 1100: We left the harbour to prepare to begin our race to Eddystone rock

Just off the coast of Brixham, 1204: Our race began with a quick (the quickest) main sail hoist and the sea became rough, our first victim of sea sickness fell with Amelia politely asking to chunder on the deck. Others quickly followed, Sam then Matt and Saoirse all were soon in their bunks…

1705: Realising that Eddystone was no longer a feasible goal, we tacked to head back to Studland bay

1900: Curry was made but barely touched despite how good of a job Luke and Dave did in the galley. Watches were assigned, giving port watch a much needed rest of 2 hours.

2200: Port watch were rudely awakened by an excited Harvey, desperate for his sleep. With much grievance we made our way onto deck for the 3 hour watch that followed, discussion of future goals of others. We saw night time dolphins giving off a slight luminous glow.

0100: Tuckered out by cold, port watch retired for midnight curry and sleep.

0400: Solomon returned for more curry and the rest of us dragged ourselves back onto deck. We consumed vast quantities of sugar and hot drinks to motivate ourselves to sunrise. 0700: Everyone came back onto deck to prepare for anchoring alongside CH2.

0800: After an hour nap, we rose for breakfast and then began to clean the boat. This was swiftly followed by servicing of the winches and climbing the mast.

1330: After lunch we left for the final leg of the journey back to Gunwharf. On the way we demonstrated to Solomon some classic English dances including the Macarena, the birdie song and the Cha-Cha slide.

1825:We reached our final destination and sat down to a final supper of bangers and mash.

The crew